Tenn. Senate: It's Corker v. Ford

Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker won the Tennessee U.S. Senate primary August 4, besting former congressmen Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary. Corker had the lead ahead of the primary, according to most polls.

Corker's victory makes the general election a tough contest for Democratic candidate Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., who will now have to fight even harder to capture a portion of moderates and swing voters who may be attracted to Corker.

Ford has received support from former President Bill Clinton and Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen and is an excellent candidate who has run a solid campaign. But, as in other parts of the south, Democrats will have to fight hard to win.

With no serious primary challenger Ford was able launch his general election campaign even as the three Republican candidates savaged each other in a bruising primary. Ford insisted on talking about issues in an attempt to contrast his campaign with the negative GOP primary.

"Our party, at its very best, and our nation, at its very best, is about people coming together to solve problems," Ford said.

On Thursday night Corker called for unity among Republicans and immediately took aim at Ford.

"We want (voters) to know they can choose a businessman who's met a payroll or a career politician from Washington," Corker said, according to the Nashville Tennessean. "A former mayor and state finance commissioner or a career politician from Washington. Someone who as a civic leader has solved problems right here in Tennessee or a career politician from Washington."

In Tennessee governor's race, incumbent Gov. Phil Bredesen easily won the Democratic primary and will face state Sen. Jim Bryson, who also won his primary contest by a wide margin, in the general election.

How soon you forget...Lieberman was the DNC's choice for VP in 2000. How quickly this lifelong dem has been railroaded by the worst of the leftwing of the party. This is the portion of the party that helped drive GOP voter turnout in 2004 that propelled the president to re-election.

Lieberman says the politics of partisan polarization won when he lost. That's who won, to the Republican's dishonor, in 2000, 2002, and 2004. Democrats shouldn't just roll over for Bush, especially not on the war in Iraq, not after his horror show performance there. Setting the people of the Mid East on fire for democracy. Nothing worse in democracies than chicken hawks, except for Israeli settlers

Even if Harold Ford, Jr. is the second coming, I have a real problem with the Fords. They first were elected to office in the seventies . . . John, Harold, Sr. and Emmitt. Latter Emmitt was indicted and
jailed, Harold Ford, Jr. was indicted and ultimately found not guilty. John has been in many scrapes and is now awaiting trial for big time bribery taking.

Now either in office or running for office.
City Council of Memphis, Shelby County Commission, State Senate, US Congress, US Senate. The Chief of the greedy family is Harold, Sr. who operates out of Fisher Island in Florida and the Hamptons as a government lobbyist whose retainers are horrendous.

This is to much. As I said, if Harold, Jr. was the second coming, I don't believe the people of TN will send him to the US Senate because his apostles, all named Ford, won elections on name alone after the first three came into office, and they were apparently crooks. Harold, Jr. says he talks to his Father every day and loves his family. You get what you pay for.

Something to remember: All the name calling a mud slinging that the GOP has done/will do will become more evident. Can anyone remember the last gentlemans race in any state. GOP plays dirty, hard and fast. It is the Karl Rove era of BS politics, do the exact opposite of what you say, take no responsiblity, blame everyone else, Use God (without really caring about God).

Drindl-- I think it's important to note that most of the Democratic establishment is supporting Joe because he is an incumbent, and because a three-way race would simply be a distraction and an unwanted annoyance in November. However, as I'm sure you know, most of the establishment has stated that they will support the winner of the primary.

I definitely noticed drindl. But it's way too late for Joe. No pundit nor pol can help him now. He dug his own grave with speeches and opinion columns. I'll give him one thing. He's always been a moderate... Moderately annoying. Ned in a walk.

Anyone notice how the DC establishment [politicians, talk show hosts, media, R&D alike] is out in full-throated support for liebeerman today? A loss for him will lose the Dems the presidency ni '08! The sky is falling!

They're all scared an honest guy might be elected, someone who's not one of them--the peasants are storming the castle!

Folks, a little thing most of you missed, as I also did, when it comes to polls ie Conn. I was among almost just about everyone else thathad not heard of Ned Lamont until a couple months ago, now if my prediction holds, he will be the next Senator from Conn. I kind of like Ford but will try and get more info on the former Mayor, as I commented a couple days ago. Any info will go a long way to help those of us who are in the middle.

The only issue is OfUK, is that Corker isn't an extreme right winger. In theory, this race will be a victory for thel eft if Ford is elected or a draw for the left if Corker is elected. Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is 100 times more conservative than Corker will ever be and the 2 conservatives Hilleary and Bryant, split the vote, which is exactly what I said they would do. The far right has lost an extremely influencial voice in the Senate in Frist and already lost its race to replace him with someone as conservative. The Republicans can only come out of this with a draw as Bryant was their man and he lost. Corker is definetly farther to the right than Ford is, and being so moderate, will probably win the race. I'd say the Corker vicotry lessens than chances of a Democratic victory in Tennessee but the far right lost in the primary and that is a vicotry I'll take any day of the year. The more moderate Republicans that get voted in, the fewer right win nutjobs in office.

The same people who rejected Gore as president in 2000 live in this state of Tennessee. If memory serves me right, I think Bush won the state by more than 100,000 votes. So not all people are going to be walking in lockstep with Bill Clinton no matter how much the Dems prop him up to raise money for Ford.

Ford will have to stand on issues, get support on his own, and stand on his own two feet. Remember, he got a pass to win the House seat from his father. ( Yes, Bush is the son of a president, but he had to run against 10 candidates in the primary, plus had McCain breathing down his neck. NO one handed Bush the nomination no matter what kind of thinking some lib might brew up)

Bob Corker has business experience. It is easy to toss around "corruption" but the Dems have their own problems with William Jefferson and his $100,000 on the FBI camera and an investigation plus another Democrat from West Virginia. So the Dems are not POLLYANNA clean or SNOW WHITE in ethics either.

Stand on the issues, and see who will be the best representative for the people. That is what will win the Senate. But I guess the Dems have already started tossing their mud. Too bad, I hoped this was one race that could have been on the UP & UP without mean and nasty stuff starting the day after the primary was over.

I just get sick and tired of the righties and their ignorance. Their ignorance and stupidity and blind faith is dangerous. Why on earth should I or you have our lives, our prosperity, our children, jeapardized by these morons. I wont put up with it any more.

I agree that they are criminals of the highest order, but our primary mission should be to restore America's greatness through innovation and progress and to end the Bush Wars with diplomacy and humanitarian effort (since our military has clearly done MORE than they were asked to do).

But to come out of the gate with a vindictive and vengeful tone just makes Dems look as bad as the GOP in the eyes of the electorate. I'm Jewish but didn't Jesus say Love thine enemy? We need to prove that we have the moral high ground by first getting this country going back in the right direction. And I think that start with Rumsfeld.

But I agree about Dems needing to get tough. We do that by standing up for our ideology and not trying to convert the mindless middle. Case-in-point, Ned Lamont. But only then, once we have established a Democratic Majority, then do we look into restoring oversight and then referring any criminal activities to the Justice Department (under new leadership of course).

In regards to my previous post, the thinking citizens of this country (from all political persuasions) need to stand up to President Bush and demand he accept Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. Remember, Rumsfeld has said that he offered to resign and Bush wouldnt let him go. Rumsfeld is the lynchpin in his whole Presidential operation. Bush has "bet the farm" on Iraq and wont let go without... well... Im not sure what will make him let go, but it will have to be a movement from within this country to force him to change direction. And it really has to happen soon.

che, F&B ...and your point is? Bush and his gang of whack jobs have not only emasculated our military, they have wrecked it for the forseeable future. They have permitted, even encouraged, U.S. corporations' shipping off our countries most sensitive technology, they are *the* cause for American engineers being replaced by foreign "guest workers" who are stealing us blind of military secrets, they have destroyed the U.S. economy, embarrassed us in front of the entire world, and been resposible for acts that can only be described as treasonous. Global warming threatens to flat out devistate this planet, endangering the ability of earth to even support human life. The chief climatologist at NASA contends we have, at most, ten years to completely reverse the underlying polution problems of global warming. There is barely enough time to do this if we started to make these changes today, yet the Bush WHite House is censoring the scientific reports that document all of this and right wing groups and news outlets (like FOX and the Drudge Report....please don't laught, this is where these people get their "world view" and news) continue to publish fictional reports and wishful thinking that global warming isn't even a fact. It's rather like what the tobacco companies did with the link between cancer and using tabacco. Enough people *wanted* to believe that there was no link that the tobacco companies were able to get them to ignore the science. The consequence was that hundrds of thousands of people needlessly died. The consequence of what Bush and his useful idiots are doing is the end of civilization, and perhaps the end of humanity. You want to simply get rid of Bush? He and his supporters are CRIMINALS. Likely the worst mass murders in all of history. You don't allow criminals to retire and run around free. You track down the right wingers, the newspaper and blog publishers, the money men, the porganizers, all of them, just as we did with the Nazi SS, and you imprison them or hang them. These are the scum of the earth and it is time to get tough with them.

..whenever the Republican's talk about a candidate's meeting a payroll, I can't help but think "oh, oh, another crook". We need another crooked Republican like....well, like we need another incompetent whack job like George Bush.

Suvey USA August 2- called the race for Corker (1 pt); had the margin called with the error (+/-4%) rate at 14% where actual was 16% (1pt) and had all 4 candidates actual vote totals within margin or error (4 pts).

TOTAL 6 PTS QUALITY PICK = 4pts

Mason Dixon July 17-19
Called the race for Corker (1pt) and nailed the margin between #1 and #2 16% pts (3pts) but missed badly on the candidate totals.

TOTAL 4 PTS

U of Tenn- July 20
Called the race correctly (1 pt) but missed on the margin (11% pts; actual was 16%) and only had one candidate vote total with the margin of error (Hilleary 15%; actual 17% for 1 pt).

I don't think Corker is so far to the left that Repubs won't vote for him. I would be intrested to know how much money Ford and Corker have each. Ford has been doing some serious fundraising and Corker had to spend ALOT to win a nasty campaign.
Also I think that the GOP should be careful in painting Ford as too liberal, since he is one of the more conservative Democrats out there. It might come back to haunt them, as will the abortion flip-flop of corker.

Am I wrong to hope that the right wing base or the republician party will be less likely to show up at the polls without one of their own to vote for. There is not a hot button issue to inspire them to leave the rocks they live under long enough to vote. This should help Ford. Or is this just wishful thinking?